ROUNDUP: Drost, Green Valley girls overcome Skyhawks in victory

Heading into Thursday’s match, the Green Valley girls volleyball team hadn’t dropped a single set to a Northeast League opponent during the regular season.

And following the first two sets, last year’s Class 4A state champion Gators seemed poised to keep that impressive streak alive.

However, in a battle of the league’s top two teams, Silverado had other plans. Rallying from a 15-8 deficit in the third set, the Skyhawks stormed back to tie it at 22 before eventually grabbing their first lead of the match en route to a 26-24 win.

“We just underestimated them,” Green Valley junior Nikki Drost said. “We thought we were going to win, and we just let them beat us.”

Despite the strong showing from the Skyhawks, the Gators (27-4, 8-0 Northeast) managed to overcome the set loss on their way to a resilient 25-15, 25-15, 24-26, 25-15 home victory.

Drost registered a match-high 22 kills, including eight in the first set which the Gators opened with a 7-1 run. She also added eight digs.

“I thought in the first couple of sets we passed really well,” Hill said. “I thought in the third set our passing broke down a little bit and the communication broke down a little bit. Those are two things that we have to work on to make sure they are consistent.”

Green Valley climbed back early in the fourth set, when it took advantage of a seven-point run to pull away from the Skyhawks. Jenna Swaffer tallied 46 assists for the Gators, and teammate Carly Schiess notched 16 kills and seven digs.

“It tells a little about the character in how they bounced back and it show resiliency,” Hill said. “They came back very well in the fourth game.”

Chrissy Blazek had five aces and 28 digs, and Jenna McClure had eight kills and 10 digs.

Jessica Rafay had seven kills, six assists, eight digs, and four blocks for Spring Valley. Rachel Milam added three kills and 12 digs, and Casey Vanhoose had four kills and six digs for the Grizzlies.
Clark 3, Mojave 0 — At Clark, June Roberts had seven kills and seven aces to lead the Chargers in a sweep of Mojave, 26-24, 25-14, 25-17.

Rebecca Espinoza led the Rattlers with three aces and four digs. Pamela Martin and Ashley Persico each added eight digs for Mojave.
Las Vegas 3, Canyon Springs 0 — At Canyon Springs, Matti Ventling supplied 22 assists and seven digs to help lead the Wildcats to a 25-16, 25-19, 25-13 sweep of the Pioneers.